Sanjayan
{{Short description|Indian writer and journalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Sanjayan
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|6|13}}
| birth_place = Thalassery, Kannur, British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|9|13|1903|6|13}}
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| occupation = Writer, satirist, journalist
| nationality = Indian
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| notableworks = {{ubl|Hasyanjali|Sakhavinte Bleach|Shunakageetham|Aalillatha Pothuyogam|Vande Bharya Matharam}}
| spouse = Karthyayani Amma
| partner =
| children =
| relatives = {{ubl|Madavil Kunjiraman Vaidyar (father)|Manikkoth Paru Amma (mother)}}
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Mannikoth Ramunni Nair (1903–1943), better known by his pseudonym, Sanjayan, was a Malayalam writer, journalist and one of the pioneers of satirical writing in Malayalam literature. Along with E. V. Krishna Pillai, another of the notable Malayalam satirists, Sanjayan is known to have developed the genre of light essays in the language. Besides satires, he also wrote literary criticisms and translated Othello into Malayalam language.
Biography
File:Malabar christian College 1932.jpg
{{quotebox|align = right|width=22em|Recently I happened to see a report in the newspaper about a person circling the world in a single-bullock cart. I understand that the unusually hot weather this year has had this kind of effect on many people. The depth to which people are ready to stoop to get their names and photos in papers is amazing. Let me in all humility ask a question: if you circle the world in a single-bullock cart who should get the credit for it- you or the single bullock?, Excerpts from Hunting for fame by Sanjayan.{{Cite web |url=http://historyofthalassery.blogspot.com/2014/05/sanjayan.html |title=Thalassery - A historical perspective |date=2019-02-28 |website=History of Thalasseri |access-date=2019-02-28}}}}
Sanjayan was born on June 13, 1903, in Thalassery, a town in Kannur District of the south Indian state of Kerala to Madavil Kunjiraman Vaidyar and Manikkoth Paru Amma.{{Cite web |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/sanjayan-profile-8748-25.htm |title=Sanjayan - Veeth profile |date=2019-02-28 |website=veethi.com |access-date=2019-02-28}} His father died when the boy was eight years old and he was brought up by his mother. He did his schooling at Brennan Branch School, the present day Government Brennen Higher Secondary School, after which he studied at Government Brennen College, Thalassery, Victoria College, Palakkad and Madras Christian College from where he earned an honours degree in English language and literature.{{Cite web |url=http://mywordsnthoughts.com/myworld/all-about-kerala/sanjayan-the-hasya-samrat-of-malayalam-literature/ |title=Sanjayan – The 'Hasya Samrat' of Malayalam Literature |last=Sandy |date=2017-09-12 |website=My Words & Thoughts |language=en-US |access-date=2019-02-28}} By this time, he had already mastered Sanskrit language and had acquired a working knowledge of German and French languages. Though he started his career as a clerk in government service soon after his graduation, he resigned the job after a short while to move to teaching by joining Malabar Christian College as a member of faculty.{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/Sanjayan/Html/Sanjayangraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-02-28 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-02-28}} During this period, he had a change of mind and started studying for law, passing the FL examination. However, he could not continue his studies due to personal issues but resumed the studies in 1932, studying for Bachelor of Law, which was also abandoned due to ill health; he contracted tuberculosis. While undergoing treatment and during his convalescence, he studied Vedanta and Hindu astrology. After recovering from the disease, he moved his residence to Kozhikode in 1935 to take up the editorship of Kerala Pathrika, a newspaper founded by Chengalathu Kunhirama Menon but in 1938, joined Malabar Christian College again as a faculty where he worked until 1942.
Sanjayan married Karthyayani Amma, his cousin, in 1927 and had a son from the marriage which was short-lived as his wife died in 1930. He also lost his only son in 1939. He died on September 13, 1943, at the age of 40, at his Thalassery residence.
Legacy
Sanjayan's contribution to the Malayalam literature were mainly satirical essays criticizing the contemporary social state.{{cite book|author=Sisir Kumar Das|title=History of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C&pg=PA721|year=2005|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-7201-006-5|pages=721–}} Along with E. V. Krishna Pillai, he is considered as the pioneer of humorous and light essays in Malayalam literature.{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1226|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|pages=1226–}}{{cite book|author=Krishna Chaitanya|title=A history of Malayalam literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nMOAAAAYAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Orient Longman|isbn=9780804688055}} Somarajan Padinjarittam, who translated Sanjayan's writings into English under the title, Selected Works - Sanjayan, compared him to writers such as P. G. Wodehouse, Stephen Leacock, James Thurber, and Mark Twain.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/Now-Sanjayan-in-English/article16540305.ece |title=Now, Sanjayan in English |last=Nair |first=R Madhavan |date=26 August 2009 |work=The Hindu |access-date=25 February 2019}} It is reported that, even when criticising the socio-political issues, he did not resort to personal slagging. His oeuvre is composed of satirical verses such as in Hasyanjali, literary criticisms compiled as Sahitya Nikasham and Aaru Niroopanangal and books such as Vyamayanam and Adhyopaharam.{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/Sanjayan/Html/SanjayanBooks.htm |title=List of works |date=2019-02-28 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-02-28}} he also translated Othello of William Shakespeare into Malayalam.{{Cite journal |last=Kainikkara M. Kumara Pillai |title=Shakespeare in Malayalam |journal=Indian Literature |date=1964 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=73–82|jstor=23329681 }}
Sanjayan's career as a journalist started with his assignment as the editor of Kerala Pathrika in 1935 which lasted for only a year until he founded Sanjayan, an eponymous humour journal, in 1936. Later, he was the editor-in-chief of Viswaroopam, a satirical magazine where he made satirical remarks even on such names as Vallathol Narayana Menon.{{cite book|author1=Saugata Bhaduri|author2=Indrani Mukherjee|title=Transcultural Negotiations of Gender: Studies in (Be)longing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgyVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA130|date=18 September 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-81-322-2437-2|pages=130–}}{{Cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/VK-Prakash-to-try-a-hand-at-acting/articleshow/25264190.cms |title=VK Prakash to try a hand at acting - Times of India |website=The Times of India |language=en |access-date=2019-02-28}} He also wrote in Mathrubhumi and one of his satirical pieces on the atrocities of the British Army earned the newspaper a temporary ban.{{Cite web |url=http://archive.keralamediaacademy.org/content/sanjayan |title=Sanjayan - Kerala Media Academy |date=2019-02-28 |website=archive.keralamediaacademy.org |access-date=2019-02-28 |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228192302/http://archive.keralamediaacademy.org/content/sanjayan |url-status=dead }}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.in/Sanjayan-Kathakal-Chiriyude-Pusthakam/dp/B07DGF759N |title=Sanjayan Kathakal: Chiriyude Pusthakam |last=Sanjayan |date=2016 |publisher=Tamara |editor-last=Mangatt |editor-first=Tom J. |language=ml}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.in/%25E0%25B4%25B8%25E0%25B4%259E%25E0%25B5%258D%25E0%25B4%259C%25E0%25B4%25AF%25E0%25B4%25A8%25E0%25B5%258D%25E0%25B4%25B1%25E0%25B5%2586-%25E0%25B4%2595%25E0%25B5%2583%25E0%25B4%25A4%25E0%25B4%25BF%25E0%25B4%2595%25E0%25B5%25BE-Sanjayante-Krithikal-Malayalam-ebook/dp/B07B8P3DCP/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1551353476&sr=1-6 |title=Sanjayante Krithikal |last=Sanjayan |language=ml |asin=B07B8P3DCP}}
- {{Cite book |title=Pranayathite Thirichadi |last=Sanjayan |date=2007-11-10 |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8182643178|id= {{ASIN|8182643171|country=in}} }}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13353713-sanjayan-sampoorna-kruthikal |title=Sanjayan Sampoorna Kruthikal |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Mathrubhoomi Books |year=2011 |isbn=9788182651562 |volume=2 volumes |page=1725}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/43010049 |title=Irupathanchu Hasyalekhanangal |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Lipi Publications |editor-last=K. Gopalakrishnan}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/43009929-101 |title=101 sanjayan phalithangal |last=Sanjayan |year=2006 |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8126412662}}
- {{Cite book |url=http://keralabookstore.com/book/ayyo-kavitha-kavitha-vol-1/7193/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 1 (Ayyo Kavitha Kavitha) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649060 |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/rudrakshamahathmyam-vol-2/7194/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 2 (Rudrakshamahathmyam) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649046 |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/vandhe-bharya-matharam-vol-3/7195/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 3 (Vandhe Bharya Matharam) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649053 |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/njan-kuttichathanayerunnegil-vol-4/7196/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 4 (Njan Kuttichathanayerunnegil) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649077|language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/podippattikalum-podipattikalum-vol-5/7197/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 5 (Podippattikalum Podipattikalum) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789380696867|language=en|year=2011 }}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/injection-vol-6/7198/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 6 (Injection) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/alillatha-pothuyogam-vol-7/7199/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 7 (Alillatha Pothuyogam) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/shunakageethm-vol-8/7200/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 8 (Shunakageetham) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649084 |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/sakhavinte-bleech-vol-9/7201/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 9 (Sakhavinte Bleech) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |isbn=9789381649091|language=en}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/hasyangali-vol-10/7202/ |title=Sanjayante Hasya Kruthikal - Vol 10 (Hasyanjali) |last=Sanjayan |publisher=Kairali Books |language=en}}
= Translations =
- {{Cite book |title=Othello |author=William Shakespeare |translator=Sanjayan |publisher=Tamara |language=ml}}
= Translations into English =
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/44976916-selected-works-sanjayan |title=Selected Works (Sanjayan) |author=Sanjayan |translator=Somarajan Padinjarittam |year=2009 |asin=B004ZV5JXI}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Cite web |url=https://keralastudycentre.blogspot.com/2010/12/malayalam-writers-and-their-pen-names.html |title=Malayalam Writers and Their Pen Names - Kerala Study Centre |date=2010-12-05 |website=Kerala Study Centre |access-date=2019-02-28}}
- {{Cite web |url=https://keralabookstore.com/books-by/Sanjayan/1482/ |title=Books written by Sanjayan |date=2019-02-28 |website=keralabookstore.com |access-date=2019-02-28}}
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/Sanjayan/Html/SanjayanPage.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerlaa Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-02-28 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-02-28}}
{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:People from Thalassery
Category:Malayalam-language writers
Category:Malayalam-language journalists
Category:Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni
Category:Journalists from Kerala